An experimental, "easy start" alternative to the normal start has been added to the development version. It features 1000Cr instead of 100Cr and a places you at Tionisla, essentially in order to let you buy your injectors right away.

Spara did a great work (as usual), but we must work from the assumption that newbie players will likely overlook the OXP manager where they could find a bunch of alternative start OXPs among the 500+ managed OXPs.

Whilst injectors do make a great first purchase, when starting with sufficient cash a beam laser might make a better one.

It has a couple of major advantages that are often forgotten:

It can't be damaged under normal circumstances

It can't run out of fuel

On top of that it's significantly superior to the pulse laser in terms of damage delivered and even has improved range. If you can take down even one foe quickly then your odds improve significantly; that's not really possible with a pulse laser.

True, it is more expensive but after a refund on the forward pulse laser the pricing is actually pretty close.

Injectors alone can get you out of trouble sometimes but other times do nothing. With a beam laser at least you can always put up a fight.

Fine strategic points all - for the New Jameson to agonise over.
Personallly. I mount my Pulse aft and just hope to get away with it, while building working capital. First significant purchase is then fuel scoops (more for passing cargo, shooting lumps off asteroids for a quick 38€, than for fuel savings). Then build capital until my cargo bay is my limiting factor. Expand cargo bay, and I can then get down to some serious coining it until I can mount an aft Military and ECMs.

_________________--
Shooting aliens for fun and ... well more fun.
"I'm just stepping out of the airlock for a breath of fresh vacuum. I may be gone some time."

Hi Buddy. This post is a bit late and by now you may have found the answer to your question.. When approaching any planet you can avoid traffic and pirates by leaving the trade route between the witch space beacon and the planet. When you first jump in on a planet immediately leave the trade route by moving your ship away from the beacon while having a view of the planet in either your left or right side view. Use J if you can to quickly get off the trade route. Once of the route which take about 20 seconds at full speed, you can use J to use the planets gravity to pull you in. When buying equipment for the first time I recommend getting fuel injectors first. These are 600 credits and with them you can outrun most pirates and missiles launched against you. Next get the military laser at 6000 credits. Make sure you save your game often. Find a system where there is a tech level difference in two planets of 7 or more. The bigger the difference the better. If they are close that is even better again. High tech planets at level 12 and above sell cheap computer tech which you can sell at 5 or lower tech planets for optimal profit. When at the low tech planet by wines and furs to take back to your high tech planet. Don't worry about transporting people and packages. just find two planets and trade between them until you have fuel injectors, military laser. you will need an aft millitary laser, heat shileds, an extra energy unit and military shields found at 14 plus planets if your thinking of going into deep space to fight thargoid warships. To go into deep space just leave your finger on the up arrow during witchspace countdown. Always have an energy bomb on board.

SO SORRY Commander Jamesons.
This is the OONIVERSE, YOU have bricks in your pockets.
SAVE at every docking.
After you measure your damage, plan, purchase for your next foray and go forth knowing you took a light sanding to one of the bricks in your pockets.
Speed is a MUST. If you want to chip away at they bricks. And use the residue to iron ass your ship.

Welcome Cmmdr, greyinggeek (John). Oolite isn't your usual game. It's more try, try again. but each time you jump it's a random spawn, so no real repeats. Ergo.. Save at each station. The hours I lost by getting into the game and forgetting that simple thing.. BOOGER!
There are no safe routes. Explore. You will "Press Space" many a time. Add oxp's, oxz's. But remember your building your game. Enjoy it as you want.

Diso isn't so dangerous. Your ship is just a starter. And a bloomin good one.
Read the posts. Ask the questions. Try again.

I'm part of the Gertrude Oblitz. A 'lost' Caduseus Omega. lightly augmented with help from these very boards. A true Iron Ass with abilities to self heal faster than a docking. More fire power than the black monk bank. Call them what you want, they are blackmailers, not even honest bounty hunters.

Would you like something like my Gertrude to invade your Ooniverse? Shall I ask her to go to the old worlds and show your pirates what an iron ass is? Lucky I don't play multi player fantasy. Bad enough getting lost in the ooniverse without adding nut jobs to my Oonivers. Or yours.

Would you like such a ship to invade your Ooniverse?

_________________LOOK OUT!!!OOPS.."Press Space" Commander
If you do not see "Press Space" more often than you want.. Your not trying!

When I see people giving advice on how to avoid challenge (off-laning etc.), I'm kind of puzzled. Then I remember I play another game exactly like that. I play it because of the beautiful sandbox world it features (FWIW it's Firefall. It's unfortunately in a zombie state, though).

There's something like that in Oolite too. Jumping to a system and discovering a planet with rings, for instance.

So I wonder if players could be roughly split in two categories: those who play it for the challenges, and those who play it for the "eye candy".

So I wonder if players could be roughly split in two categories: those who play it for the challenges, and those who play it for the "eye candy".

The way I read the original posts was not about avoiding challenges per se, but about surviving for long enough to be able to afford some of the equipment to survive those challenges. For an example, to survive long enough to afford the rear-firing laser so you can both run and fight at the same time. Or is it more efficient to get fuel injectors first? There are still challenges to be had, it's just a question of surviving long enough to be able to participate in them.
Once I've got an aft-firing laser, injectors, and an ECM system, I'm much happier about going into a fight. Without them, I'll cut and run immediately. "Turn your back and swim away / and live to die another day", to quote a poet of the Darkness. Surprisingly, he isn't dead yet, despite spending a lot of time in the Darkness. An having attended more than a few funerals.

_________________--
Shooting aliens for fun and ... well more fun.
"I'm just stepping out of the airlock for a breath of fresh vacuum. I may be gone some time."

if i start a new game and dont want to take the hard way to trade with permanent fear to get catched by pirates, i simply sell my cobra mkiii to get the mark 2 cobra and i can buy the basic combatstuff. The issue there is that itll take a little bit until you have your Mark III cobra back...
Otherwise you can install the Black Monk Monastery and the Feudal System oxp's. The strategie then is to borrow the 20000 credits from the monks, buy combat stuff and then make a few bets at the Royal Hunting Lodge.

i simply sell my cobra mkiii to get the mark 2 cobra and i can buy the basic combatstuff.

Well, that's an approach I haven't considered. That would give you ~50k€ for pimping your ride. That's an approach worth looking at.

I only got 13k€ boost from trading in for a CobraMkI. Which certainly makes a difference. But these used-spaceship salesmen will fleece you for an arm, a leg, and one kidney while getting you to pay them their bonus.

_________________--
Shooting aliens for fun and ... well more fun.
"I'm just stepping out of the airlock for a breath of fresh vacuum. I may be gone some time."